Dreaming Big

THIS WEEK I moved into college! Today is my third day in Gainesville, FL, and classes start early tomorrow morning. It's a beautiful campus with interesting people, and I'm making a lot of friends. My roommate Sarah and I will be visiting a lot of churches and Christian student groups in the next few weeks to see where we can settle in.

College so far is fun, but it's very hard to be away from my family, my church, and my city. Part of me wishes I could be back in Jacksonville, but I know this is where God has called me right now. Being put into such a new situation serves to cast me closer to God. It makes me depend on Him more, because I know I need Him to live. I've got big dreams for this campus and for myself which, when I look at them, I realize are completely dependent on God moving.

I want to be an architect. Specifically, I want to design churches. But everyone tells me architecture is the hardest major I could have chosen. Sigh.

I want thousands of people to be saved on this enormous campus in the next few years. But people's hearts are hard, and there are just so many! How could it be possible?

I want to be a part of a Christ-centered, active Christian group. But what if my classes leave me with no time to get involved?

These issues spring up in my mind. But then I look across the room at my roommate's painting of Jesus, and I realize that all these things, however troublesome, don't really scare me. I know my God to move in greater ways than we expect, and to show His power when we pursue the relationship He wants us to have with Him. I know my God to be greater even than death, and to have done miracles around me before. He's surprising and marvelous, and I find that my giants are small compared to Him.

Like last week, I still feel like I'm on a threshold into a bigger part of my life where I don't know where I'm going or what will happen. Amazingly, Pastor Russ addressed just that issue at a worship service, called "Engage the Spirit," this Wednesday before I left. He referred to Isaiah 50 and explained that those times of facing the unknown are meant to strengthen our trust in God.

Isaiah 50:10-11 "[10] Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon God. [11] Look, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with sparks: walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled - this you shall have from My hand: you shall lie down in torment."

This means that when dark, or confusing, times come, when we don't know where we're going, God is going to speak and tell us what to do. But He offers us a choice. We could light our own fire, putting our trust in our own ability or in the things we devote ourselves to. Or we could just trust that God knows what needs to happen, and do what He says even when we don't understand. It's a blessing to live life following God's voice, but otherwise our full potential in Christ won't shine through. Life is fuller when we rely upon Him, because He understands much better than we do and wants the best for us.

I can't see clearly past this afternoon. I can't be sure I'll even make it to my first class on time tomorrow, let alone make a plan for my next six years. Yet I have a dream to see thousands of people devote their lives to Christ, and to increase in my own devotion. I am reminded of a song by Jesus Culture: "Blow, mighty breath of God. Move upon this place. Blow, mighty breath of God. Move in power and grace." God will use us when He does that, but because it's His work, I don't have to worry that nothing will get done just because of my limitations.

We can have faith that God can and will do the things He has promised to do. He promises to stand with us when we stand for Him. He says He will save anyone who will put his trust in Him, accept His grace and repent. He tells us He wants to save people, and He proves it with examples of huge numbers being saved because of a few people's faithfulness.

I was reading Acts 4 yesterday, and I found some real gems.

Peter and John were arrested after they healed a lame man in Jesus' name.
v. 4 "However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand."

That's awesome! I've been praying for months that God would save thousands of people on my campus, and this shows me that with a little faithfulness, God will do great things.

v.13 "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realised that they had been with Jesus."

This verse made it onto my dry erase board. I love that when we stand unashamed of our Savior, people see that we've been with Him. They see Him in us, even today. I hope that will happen now.

But Peter and John got put in prison! It's dangerous to talk about Jesus that way. Isn't it so much safer to just go to church each Sunday and keep Him to ourselves?

Well, yeah. But that would be pretty selfish. And Jesus tells us that if we're ashamed of Him before men, He will be ashamed of us before His Father in heaven. Who wants that? Besides, in 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul says "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." So what if some people don't like it? It's God's opinion that matters.

I get a lot out of Jeremiah 1:6-8. "[6] Then said I: 'Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.' [7] But the Lord said to me: 'Do not say, 'I am a youth,' for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. [8] Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,' says the Lord."

There's no room for shame in a place where change is about to happen. Serving can be done anywhere from behind a vaccum to in front of a crowd. What matters is doing as we're called to do. Right now I feel like I'm called to look into architecture. So even though people keep saying how time-consuming it is, I'm not scared. I love architecture, and God has given me inexplicable peace about things that would otherwise terrify me.

I'm dreaming big and expecting great things to happen here. In fact, I know God's already doing it all over the world. It's beautiful: when our faith results in action, He responds to our faith with action. And His action strengthens our faith even more. His love living in us has power. I'm excited to see what will happen, because I have a feeling God's about to move mountains.

Romans 5:5, "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

Have a miraculous week!